Dance Party
by Coffeeskater
Summary: (alt time line) Max and Victoria go to a Vortex club party and Victoria finds out a few things about Max (written for haizehat on tumblr who did the cover art that inspired this)


Little known fact about Maxine Caulfield: while sober she may be reserved and painfully shy, but when she was drunk the girl was over excitable, outgoing and had no shame. Victoria found this out after the third vortex club party they went to together. The previous two parties Max had remained sober, having a Maximum of two drinks. But the third party had been just after a huge test and both of them were ready to cut loose. Victoria had been prepared to see Max cry. (The club had a betting pool on what kind of drunk Max would be, weepy drunk being the most popular.)

What Victoria didn't expect was for Max to flourish, being more and more talkative, even letting Dana talk her into dancing together.

So here they were, Victoria off to the side watching Max dancing with Dana and laughing, her face flushed from the alcohol and exertion. The song ended and Max hugged Dana, muttering something to her before bouncing back over to the blonde, wide grin on her face. She tripped and Victoria darted forward, catching her wrist and hauling her upright. Max giggled and pressed herself close to Victoria, hugging her and laughing breathlessly.

"Hey Tori!" She said brightly, giving her a squeeze and swaying on her feet. Victoria huffed and rolled her eyes. Thank god she was only buzzed, someone had to take care of this drunk hipster.

"I'm cutting you off, you're already plastered you light weight." Max whined and buried her face against Victoria's shoulder.

"But Toriiii... It's a party let me have my fun!"

Victoria sighed. "No I'm cutting you off."

Max pouted and gently butt her head against the blondes shoulder. "Meanie."

Victoria chuckled and poked Max's cheek. "What are you five? Come back when you have a better insult."

Max was silent for a while, apparently content to just stand there clinging to her and swaying. The song changed and Max perked right up, head popping off the blondes shoulder a bright grin on her face once more. "Ah! This is such a good song!" Max grabbed Victoria's hands. "Come dance with me!"

Victoria blushed, thankful it was too dark and Max was too smashed to see it. Dancing with Max was not a good idea. Victoria would die before admitting out-loud that she had a crush on the smaller girl. Max was the closest thing to a best friend Victoria ever had, and of course her life played out like a cliché where the protagonist fell for their quirky best friend. As if the trope wasn't nauseating enough, Victoria was absolutely not taking any chances in jeopardizing their relationship, and so she kept her feelings to herself.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Victoria brought herself back to the present, with Max pouting at her and tugging insistently on her hands. "Please Tori? Please please?"

Fucking hell.

"Fuck. Fine come on." Victoria bit out. Max didn't seem to notice her reluctance, or she just didn't care, smiling happily and cheering, wasting no time in dragging Victoria onto the dance floor.

Max had never been a particularly good dancer, the alcohol in her system making her already sub-par dancing skills damn near dangerous. One of her elbows caught someone in the side and Victoria quickly caught the offending limb and yanked Max closer to her. Max just giggled and went with it, spinning around and pressing her back to Victoria's chest, her hips swaying in time with the music.

Victoria was glad it was dark and loud, otherwise she'd be worried her blush was visible or that Max could feel the pounding of her heart. Making a conscious effort not to touch Max anywhere weird Victoria placed her hands on Max's hips, steadying her as she continued to sway with the beat. Suddenly Max reached one arm up, hooking her hand behind Victoria's neck and smiling, twisting her chest to look up at the blonde through her lashes. She muttered something that she couldn't hear over the pounding bass line and Victoria reluctantly dipped her head closer.

"What?"

She could feel Max's warm breath brushing against her ear, her lips accidentally ghosting over her ear lobe, truly testing Victoria's self-control.

"I said, thank you for dancing with me." She said, squeezing her neck for emphasis. Victoria straightened and shrugged, faking nonchalance.

The song ended and Victoria immediately tried to pull away but Max had other ideas. Quickly Max looped her other arm around Victoria's neck and pulled her close again. Victoria tried not to snap at the other girl, really she tried. "Hands off hipster." She barked.

Max's grip faltered and her smile dropped off her face. She pulled her arms back to her chest, curling in on herself instantly. Victoria cursed lowly. Despite the loud music she could hear the sniffle and see Max shake. Fuck she just had to go and make her cry. Looks like Max was a weepy drunk after all Victoria mused before focusing on the situation at hand. Sighing she put her arm around Max and guided her off the dance floor.

Once they were away from prying eyes Victoria made Max face her as she tipped her chin up and wiped away the slight smears from her mascara. Chewing her lip Victoria tried to force the words she wanted out. "Look I'm sorry." She said softly as she cleaned Max's face. Max's lower lip wobbled but she met Victoria's eyes and whatever she saw there seemed to calm her. She shrugged and wiped at her eyes with her wrist.

"It's okay." Grateful Max wasn't asking questions Victoria sighed and grabbed her free wrist.

"Come on I'm taking you home."

"But-"

"Max I'm tired and bored. I'm leaving but if you really want to stay fine." Fuck for once why couldn't she just act like a normal human and not snap at Max? Max didn't seem to care though, instead clumsily grabbing her hand and holding almost too tightly.

"Okay."

They left the warehouse, the loud music still audible as it thrummed and bright light spilled out of the windows. Max stumbled after Victoria, their joined hands probably the only thing keeping her upright. They made it to Victoria's car and Max dropped into the passenger seat, fumbling with the seatbelt as she struggled to buckle herself in. Victoria sighed exasperatedly before swatting her hands away and doing it herself.

Max thanked her in a small voice and Victoria nodded, not quite paying all that much attention. The short drive back to Blackwell was silent save the radio playing softly. Max was staring out the window, her face scrunched up. Normally it was her deep in though face but considering she was smashed she was probably just thinking about something stupid like if bugs had toes.

The walk back to their rooms was also quiet. Victoria half expected Max to grab her hand again and she forced herself to not be disappointed when she didn't. When Max made to go into her own room Victoria huffed and grabbed the back of her t shirt and pulled her into her own room.

"You're staying here tonight I don't want to worry about you drowning in your own vomit or something." Victoria said. Max simply nodded.

It was quiet again as Victoria pulled out another pair of shorts and a shirt for Max to sleep in. Passing the articles to the smaller girl Victoria went to retrieve her own pyjamas when's Max's voice, small and pathetic stopped her. "Am I ugly Victoria?" The blonde froze before whipping around to stare at Max who was fiddling with the clothes she'd been given, adamantly avoiding green eyes.

"What?"

Max shrugged and clutched tighter at the shirt in her hands. "I'm not pretty am I?" She replied, fidgeting and twisting the material.

"Who said that?" Victoria barked, her voice hard and her face furrowed In a frown.

Again Max shrugged. "No one had to say it..."

Victoria moved to grab Max but the smaller girl dodged smoothly out of the way. "It's just... I saw Dana and Trevor kissing and it just made me sad because no one wants to kiss me. If no one wants to kiss me I must not be pretty right?" Max's voice wobbled and she began to tremble. Victoria succeeded in catching her this time, pulling her into a hug while she shook.

Her jaw worked as she tried to find the words. What was she supposed to say? Max sniffled and pressed her face into the blonde's chest as she began to cry. Before she could consciously stop herself the words were slipping out of her mouth.

"I'd kiss you." Max looked up at her, eyes wet as she bit her lip. She rubbed at her nose.

"Would you?" She asked, voice still shaking slightly. Too late to back out now.

"Sure." Max tilted her head and Victoria mentally noted how adorable it was.

"Will you?" That caught Victoria off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"Will you kiss me?" Max repeated, still staring up at her with that wounded look in her eye.

Fuck. If she said no Max would cry again and be inconsolable (at least until the morning when she sobered up.) and if she said yes, Max might feel weird about it in the morning. There was no right answer. Mentally cursing Victoria prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions.

"How about a rain check. Maybe in the morning when you feel better and you're not smashed." Victoria bit her lip and hoped Max wouldn't be too hurt. The brunette was silent, her face unreadable and Victoria's heart pounded in her chest before Max slowly nodded.

"Mmmm your right. Wanna remember my first kiss." Max conceded before releasing Victoria to get changed. "Buuut, you have to cuddle with me."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. "Sure just get changed and into bed hipster." She agreed, mentally deciding cuddling Max wasn't the worst outcome in this situation.

Quickly changing herself, she joined the smaller girl in her bed, Max quickly cuddling up to her and tucking her head under her chin. "Night Tori." She mumbled around a yawn, squeezing her gently.

"Good night Max."

The next morning Victoria woke up alone, Max was nowhere to be found. Groaning Victoria sat up and rubbed her eyes. Thank god she'd only been buzzed otherwise the sun shining into her face would be a night mare. As it was she only had a slight head ache. The door opened and Victoria froze, relaxing when she realized it was only Max. The smaller girl saw her and gave a small smile, wincing when the light caught her eye. "Morning." she offered.

"Where were you?" Max shielded her eyes as sat down on the couch with a sigh.

"Bathroom. I woke up and had the intense urge to vomit. Figured I'd be dead if I puked on your things so I made a run for it." She smiled a bit and Victoria felt her heart thump. Before she could reply Max smiled more fully. "Thanks for taking care of me last night." Victoria nodded and swallowed hard, afraid to ask how much she remembered. Standing she stretched, failing to notice Max's eyes on her temporarily exposed midriff. She was about to leave to brush her teeth when Max caught her wrist. She was chewing nervously on her lip and Victoria quirked an eyebrow.

"Hey... Uhm... About last night..." Swallowing hard Victoria shrugged.

"It's fine." She paused before lowering her voice. "You'd do the same for me."

"No Tori, not that... I meant-" she sighed frustratedly. "I meant thank you for not kissing me."

Victoria grit her teeth and tried desperately not to let the words hurt. (They did, it hurt worse than anything in her entire life.) "Whatever." She tried to shrug it off and pull away but Max grabbed her shirt and jerked her back, still chewing her lip.

"I mean thank you for not kissing me last night and I'd like to cash in that rain check." She rushed out, meeting her eyes for a brief second before darting away.

Victoria could feel her heart pounding loud in her chest, Max's knuckles a stark white as she clutched at her shirt. Victoria swallowed hard. "You want me to kiss you?" Max nodded.

"Yes please." She barely whispered. Victoria cupped her cheeks and tilted her head up. Their eyes met before Max's fluttered shut as Victoria leaned in and pressed their lips together. Max's chest stuttered and she reached up, wrapping her arms around Victoria's neck. Their bodies pressed together and Max kissed back with surprising passion. Victoria had intended for it to be short sweet kiss but with the way Max was kissing her it was rapidly turning into a make out session.

When they eventually broke apart, Max still clinging to the blonde, her eyes slightly glazed over her, lips parted as she took ragged breaths. "Wow."

"Yeah." Their chests heaved as they gulped down air.

"Victoria?" Max asked, voice small and vulnerable. Victoria hummed and rested her chin on top of Max's head. "What does this make us?"

"What do you want to be?" Victoria replied honestly. Max didn't say anything and she pulled away slightly. Max was tormenting her lip again and Victoria pulled it from her teeth with her thumb, making her blush bright.

"I want to mean something to you." she said carefully, not meeting her eyes.

Victoria couldn't stop her smile. Kissing Max's forehead she squeezed her. "You already do." She paused before speaking again, choosing her words carefully. "Be my girlfriend."

Max squealed, actually squealed then and Victoria grinned to herself. Max hugged her tighter and squirmed happily. "Yes, yes a million times yes."

Victoria nudged Max and when she tipped her head up Victoria recaptured her lips in a kiss. Content to spend the rest of the morning kissing Max, kissing her girlfriend.


End file.
